Virgin Media agreed to fund police overtime as part of an investigation into £144 million set-top box fraud.
The agreement with the Metropolitan Police Authority to pay £5,060 led to the successful prosecution of Munaf Ahmed Zinga and two other men, who had imported over 400,000 receivers into Britain from South Korea, enabling the free reception of pay-TV channels.
Zinga received an eight-year prison sentence for his part in the scam and is now appealing against his sentence. His lawyers are arguing that the payments should have been ruled illegal, however Judge Inigo Bing disagreed: “There is no material before me to lead to the conclusion that there was any financial agreement or understanding at any time before 19 November [when Zinga’s premises were raided]. I therefore reject Mr Aspinall’s [appeared on behalf of the defendant Munaf Zinga] central contention that there was in existence a financial arrangement before the warrants were sought.”
A Virgin Media spokesperson said: “Following a joint operation between Virgin Media and the Metropolitan Police, three men were successfully prosecuted for a large-scale commercial fraud. The defendants were found guilty of manufacturing, importing and supplying over 400,000 set-top boxes used to unlawfully access cable TV to dealers across the UK. In accordance with the Police Act 1996, we supported an additional overtime cost incurred by the Metropolitan Police, something that has been fully disclosed and detailed in court. Pending the conclusion of confiscation proceedings, we will explore a compensation application against the defendants and we’ve offered a proportion to support the Metropolitan Police Authority’s ongoing work.”
